Musings, leadership tidbits and quotes posted by a retired Navy Captain (really just a high performing 2nd Class Petty Officer) who hung up his uniform a bit too early. He still wears his Navy service on his sleeve. He needs to get over that. "ADVANCE WARNING - NO ORIGINAL THOUGHT!" A "self-appointed" lead EVANGELIST for the "cryptologic community". Keeping CRYPTOLOGY alive-one day and Sailor at a time. 2015 is 80th Anniversary of the Naval Security Group.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Ensign and Lieutenant Seed Corn

From NAVY TIMES

Captain John Schultz, head community manager at Navy Personnel Command, uses the farming analogy of “seed corn” for junior officers, a valuable resource for future needs.

“One of the things we’re working today is clearly defining what that agriculture base should be. We put a lot of emphasis on the control-grade work, but you don’t get people in the control grades unless you have a healthy O-1 to O-3, the seed corn,” he said.

My thoughts:

The Navy uses the farming analogy later on when these seed corn grow into O-4s and O-5s. They call it sorting the wheat from the chaff. And later, when they are O-6s, the Navy puts them out to pasture. This is all too much farm talk about Sailors as far as I'm concerned.

Sailors are our most important asset, maybe we shouldn't refer to them as an agricultural base. Makes me worry about them being tilled under (E7-E9 continuation boards) to produce a stronger crop.

This is a very important discussion down here within the BUPERS-3 organization. I am fortunate enough to be a part of the cross functional team that will make recommendations on the ideal billet structure that will actually allow us as a community and Navy to grow into the control grade requirements. We are undermanned at CDR not because our inventory is too low, but because our billet requirements are too great (and unobtainable given very valid DOPMA constraints). Stand by for something akin to "Top Six Rolldowns" on the enlisted side.

Uh...we're undermanned at the CDR level because we botched the 90's drawdown and we promote to percentages, not to vacancies.

When I was a LCDR there was 1 body for every 3 billets...so,100 LCDRs eligible for CDR filling 150 LCDR billets

Select 90% to CDR

Now you have 90 CDRs filling 135 CDR billets

Select 75% to CAPT

Now you have 68 CAPTs filling 101 billets.

And that's for ONE year group...not spread across the 4 or 5 that make up an individual rank inventory.

The numbers are made up, but the import of the drop off is not.

Could we solve some of this by reducing billets? Sure...but who's doing the work that said CDR billet, or CAPT billet, was funded for? A LT, a LCDR, a contractor? Should we just kill all vacant billets and see who screams? Not an easy discusison. Good Luck NPC!